Posts Tagged ‘K.D. Nixon’

No. 20 Texas 55, Colorado 23

//posted 12.31.2020

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Texas used quick scoring drives – six touchdown possessions going for between 74 and 89 yards, with none of the taking more than six plays (with the seventh touchdown coming on a one-play, 21-yard “drive”) – to dominate Colorado, 55-23

Neither of the starting quarterbacks finished the game, with the Longhorn backup Casey Thompson getting the better of it. Texas quarterback Sam Elhinger was lost after the first half, but Thompson led the Longhorns to 38 second half points as Texas turned a 17-10 halftime advantage into a rout. Thompson completed only eight passes, but four of them went for touchdowns, as a solid CU defensive effort in the first half was completely missing in the final two quarters.

CU’s backup, Brendon Lewis, could not overcome the hole left by the Buff defense and CU’s starting quarterback. Senior Sam Noyer went 8-for-23 for 101 yards and two interceptions with his time on the field, and overthrew receivers on three different occasions on what would have been touchdowns. Lewis directed all three of CU’s touchdown drives, completing 6-of-10 passes for 95 yards. Lewis also had 73 yards rushing on nine carries, including a two-yard touchdown run.

Running back Jarek Broussard accounted for the Buffs’ other two scores, finishing the game with 82 yards on 27 carries.

For the game, Texas torched the Colorado defense for 638 yards of total offense, while the Buffs settled for 378 yards.

“This game tells me how much further we have to go,” said Karl Dorrell, who fell to 1-4 in bowl games as a head coach. “Our tackling was poor and our inefficiency on offense and we didn’t take care of the football. These are the things we’ve been preaching and talking about and we didn’t improve in those areas. It’s unfortunate and we have got a lot of work to do.”

Utah 38, No. 21 Colorado 21

//posted 12.15.2020

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Utah went on a 28-0 run in the second half to turn a 21-10 deficit into a 38-21 victory over No. 21 Colorado. Utah freshman running back Ty Jordan, held in check most of the snowy afternoon in Boulder, broke free for a 66-yard touchdown to put the game out of reach after Colorado failed to convert a fourth-and-five in Utah territory down 27-21 with five minutes remaining.

Colorado quarterback Sam Noyer went 16-for-34 for 258 yards and two touchdowns, but also had an interception and a fumble. Jarek Broussard had his career-opening string of 100-yard games come to an end, collecting 80 yards on 14 carries. The lone breakout player for the Buffs on the day was freshman wide receiver Brenden Rice, who had an 81-yard punt return for a touchdown in the first half, and a 61-yard touchdown reception early in the third quarter

The game, the earliest kickoff in Folsom Field history (10:05 a.m.), was played in frosty conditions (23-degrees at kickoff, after several inches of snow had blanketed the field overnight). In addition to losing their first game of the season, the Buffs lost their leading tackler, Butkus Award semi-finalist Nate Landman, to a season-ending injury in the first half.

“It’s unfortunate, our guys are disappointed and most of our disappointment is because of our own shooting ourselves in the foot, more so than anything”, Karl Dorrell said. “The turnovers—we had a few dropped passes that were some conversions on third down, that could have happened. We just didn’t play our normal selves”.

Colorado 20, San Diego State 10

//posted 11.29.2020

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The Colorado defense dominated the entire game, forcing seven three-and-outs (and one four-and-out), holding San Diego State to 155 yards of total offense in a 20-10 win in Boulder. In a non-conference game put together 48 hours earlier after CU’s Pac-12 game against USC was canceled, the Buffs scored on their first drive of the game and then made it stand up, getting the Buffs to 3-0 in Karl Dorrell’s first season.

Running back Jarek Broussard had 32 carries for 124 yards (including a number of runs for losses in the fourth quarter as the Buff offense tried to take the air out of the ball. Quarterback Sam Noyer went 17-for-29 for 138 yards and a touchdown, but a mistake – a pick-six in the second quarter – gave the Aztecs their only touchdown of the game. The Buffs were held to 272 yards of total offense themselves, in a contest which featured 16 punts … eight by each team.

The defense, led by All-Pac-12 linebacker Nate Landman (who had 11 tackles and three sacks, earning him the Walter Camp National Defensive Player-of-the-Week honors), held the San Diego State offense to four-of-17 on third down attempts, posting four sacks and 11 tackles for loss.

“A good win for us as a team, a difficult win”, said Karl Dorrell. “One of those wins you are hoping that you’re able to do what we did today”.

Depth Chart Deep Dive – Offense

//posted 10.18.2020

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What will be CU’s offensive identity? … Will anyone challenge Alex Fontenot as the starting running back? … Is the CU receiving corps actually the worst in the Pac-12? … Any reason to believe CU will improve on its 83rd-ranked offensive output? …

Podcast Companion – Buffs4Life and “62-36”

//posted 4.7.2020

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Email: Buffs4Life golf tournament a go in June (at least for now) … Video highlights from Sean Tufts’ career, including the 2001 Nebraska game (62-36! – was Sean’s first tackle a facemask penalty?), the Big 12 title game v. Texas, and the 2002 win over Kansas State …

No. 6 Utah 45, Colorado 15

//posted 12.2.2019

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No. 6 Utah used short fields and a punt return for a touchdown to turn a close game into a rout, taking the Pac-12 South title with a 45-15 win over Colorado. The Buffs became the only Pac-12 opponent in the 2019 season to score two touchdowns against the Utes in Rice-Eccles stadium, but an inability to convert on third downs (2-of-11) kept the Buff offense from creating any consistent movement on offense.

Senior quarterback Steven Montez completed his final game as a Buff completing 17-of-26 passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns. The passing yardage, along with his 136 yards of total offense (after rushing losses due to sacks were taken into account), allowed Steven Montez to pass Sefo Liufau on the CU all-time lists for both career passing yards and career total offense.

Colorado 16, Stanford 13

//posted 11.10.2019

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Red-shirt freshman kicker Evan Price, subbing for James Stefanou, connected on three fields, the last being a 37-yarder on the game’s final play, giving Colorado a 16-13 win over Stanford.

The Buffs took a 7-0 lead on their first drive of the game, but lost the lead early in the fourth quarter on a 79-yard touchdown pass from Stanford quarterback K.J. Costello to Simi Fehoko. Down 13-10, the Buffs launched two long fourth quarter drives – 14 plays for 69 yards and 13 plays for 61 yards – to tie the game and then post the game’s final points.

“I just wanted to go out there and pretend it was a practice kick and do what I normally do,” Price said. “Trust the holder, trust the snapper and trust the line, and everything just went right”.

UCLA 31, Colorado 14

//posted 11.2.2019

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UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson completed 21-of-28 passes for 226 yards and a touchdown, leading the Bruins to an easy 31-14 victory over Colorado. Taking advantage of a Steven Montez interception and a porous Colorado defense, the Bruins raced to a 17-0 first quarter lead … before the Buff offense could muster its first first down of the contest.

Steven Montez completed only 21-of-38 passes for 195 yards against a defense which entered the game 127th in the nation in pass defense (306.8 yards/game). Overall, the Buffs mustered only 14 points against the No. 114 scoring defense, and only 283 yards of total offense against the No. 112 defense in the country.

The Buffs’ leaders on offense each only mustered 77 yards, with Jaren Mangham gaining 77 yards on the ground (on 17 carries), while Tony Brown led the receivers with 77 yards on six receptions, including a 27-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter when the game was already well out of reach.

USC 35, Colorado 31

//posted 10.26.2019

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Senior quarterback Steven Montez set his 38th school record in starting his 32nd consecutive game, and for 45 minutes against USC, Montez looked like a hero. Montez threw for 324 yards and three touchdowns, running for a fourth, but it was not enough to keep Colorado from losing to USC for the 14th-consecutive time, falling 35-31 before 48,913 fans in Boulder.

The Trojans rallied from a ten-point fourth quarter deficit for the victory. USC quarterback Kedon Slovis hit wide receiver Michael Pittman for two touchdowns in the final 11 minutes – with the scores covering 44 and 37 yards – to take down the Buffs.

The Buffs had 520 yards of total offense to 518 for the Trojans, but couldn’t sustain drives in the fourth quarter. Laviska Shenault had nine receptions for 172 yards, including a 71-yard touchdown reception, but the effort was wasted as the CU defense failed to hold an opponent under 30 points for the 12th consecutive game.

Washington State 41, Colorado 10

//posted 10.20.2019

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Washington State quarterback Alex Gordon threw for 369 yards and four touchdowns, leading the Cougars to a …. rout of Colorado. The Cougars raced out to a 21-3 first quarter lead, never looking back, handing the Buffs their third straight defeat.

Steven Montez, for the second game in a row, was ineffective. Montez went 16-for-30 for 129 yards and two interceptions before being pulled in the fourth quarter. Running back Alex Fontenot was a bright spot, going for 105 yards on 11 carries, but a porous defense and an ineffective red zone offense doomed the Buffs to a second straight rout on the road.

“We had a few turnovers and we couldn’t finish drives,” said Mel Tucker, who fell below .500 (3-4) for the first time as CU’s head coach. “We knew we would be able to run the ball but our passing game was inconsistent. Defensively, it just took us too long to settle down.”

“It is a little frustrating but you cannot let it get to you”, said running back Alex Fontenot, who had his second career 100-yard rushing game. “You have to keep the mentality of, when I am out there I am going to score, and just keep going.”

Arizona 35, Colorado 30

//posted 10.6.2019

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Buff killer Kahlil Tate did it one more time to the Buffs, passing for 404 yards and three touchdowns, leading Arizona to a 35-30 win over Colorado in Boulder.

The lead changed hands nine times on the afternoon, with a Nathan Tedford five-yard touchdown run with 6:51 remaining being the deciding score. The Buffs mounted one final drive, but a Steven Montez pass intended for Dimitri Stanley on a fourth-and-four at the Arizona 46-yard line with 2:29 remaining ended CU’s final threat.

Steven Montez completed 28-of-42 passes for 299 yards and a touchdown, while K.D. Nixon added a 38-yard touchdown pass to Dimtri Stanley. Tony Brown, taking over as CU’s lead receiver for the second game in a row in the absence of Laviska Shenault, had 10 receptions for a career-high 141 yards, while Alex Fontenot added 94 yards on 21 carries to lead CU’s ground attack.

“We have a very disappointed locker room”, said CU head coach Mel Tucker. “We have to give Arizona a lot of credit. They made more plays than we made. They executed more often than we did. We felt like in the first half that we left some plays on the field on both sides of the ball”.

Colorado 34, No. 24 Arizona State 31

//posted 9.23.2019

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Colorado snapped a 29-game road losing streak against ranked teams, taking down No. 24 Arizona State in Tempe, 34-31.

Steven Montez went 23-for-30 for 337 yards and three touchdowns, with all three scoring passes going to Tony Brown. The senior wide receiver collected nine passes in all, going for a career-high for 150 yards, with Alex Fontenot gaining 89 yards on 25 carries to lead the rushing attack.

The Buffs posted 447 yards of total offense, surrendering 453 to the Sun Devils. The CU defense remained consistent, giving up 31 points for the third time in four games (giving up, oddly enough, 30 points in the lone loss of the season).

The victory not only gave CU its first win over a ranked team since defeating UCLA 31-20 in the Rose Bowl in 2002, it also gave the Buffs their first win in six attempts against the Sun Devils in Tempe, and a 2-0 record against ranked teams in the fourth game of the Mel Tucker era.